Category: Australian - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

Turn UP the Heat

10/4/2022

Out of Her League (Kapow! #1)
by Renée Dahlia

Joey lost his rugby league career after he became a paraplegic, but he has found success on the inspiration speech circuit. Ella was - still is! - one of Joey's biggest fans so when he invites her back to his room, there is no way she's going to refuse. One night of passion is all she's after. So it comes as a bit of a shock when she learns the next day that her company will be working with him.

This book is exceptionally steamy with some great (and I mean GREAT) scenes, so I was not at all disappointed on that front. In a romance of this length, of course I expect everything else to be secondary to the budding relationship - but Ella's job seemed to be completely forgotten about and nor did it have the impact on the plot that the initial setup suggests. Still..it's hard to be annoyed about that when the heat level is this high.

Team Bad Guy

9/4/2022

Untamed (The Fallen Guardians #4)
by Cassie Laelyn

Raine isn't complicated - she likes sharp, pointy things and she has a destiny fulfil (thanks, Fate!). Nothing is going to get in her way, certainly not a Fallen who's been on Team Bad Guy this whole time. Slater craves freedom but he needs a certain item to achieve this - a weapon forged by Raine and a weapon she wants back. But he can't let her get it...and he can't lose his heart to her either.

Whew, sparks were definitely flying in this one. Raine and Slater are quite the pair - and I'm a sucker for random cats in my romances lol. If you've read books from this series before, you'll get exactly what you're expecting. I am getting a bit of fatigue over the main story arc since it does move forward quite glacially, but this is still a fun enemies-to-lovers romp (bonus cat - did I mention the cat?).

Sapphic Villains FTW

2/3/2022

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

Marynka, or Midday as this witch's servant is known, is determined to beat her rival, Midnight. This time, the prize is the pure heart of a prince and Marynka will take it back to her grandmother. But Midnight's plan for the heart is different, something that will make her more powerful than Midday. There is, however, another obstacle for both of them: their mutual, unshakeable attraction.

I am weak for YA witches falling in love - the author describes her characters as "sapphic villains" - so of course I was going to enjoy this. The Polish-inspired fantasy setting was fascinating to me and it was introduced naturally, without any info-dumping. Marynka and Zosia were such a delight too. Slower pacing would have helped build more tension, but The Midnight Girls was still a lot of fun to read.

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff

12/12/2021

Aurora's End (The Aurora Cycle #3)
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

The squad has been split up and scattered, all of them trapped by time - or a lack thereof. The Ra'haam will soon bloom and burst and there's no stopping them once that happens. What the galaxy needs is a Weapon, but that's MIA. The only thing that most of the galaxy can do is pray. But for Squad 312, they'll have todo a lot more than that or everything is lost.

The conclusion we all deserve. This was a damn heavy book to hold, but it was worth getting the paperback over the ebook - all the better for some of the cool formatting. I really enjoyed this trilogy (after the somewhat clumsy start) and usually I don't have any patience for time shenanigans, but it was well done here. So the ultimate ending was a bit...underwhelming. Everything else was great, though. And I do love me some insta!love pairings. xD

Weyrd Times in Brisbane

29/11/2021

Vigil (Verity Fassbinder #1)
by Angela Slatter

Part Normal and part Weyrd, Verity Fassbinder can access two worlds in the same city - and she needs to, in her line of work. Sirens are falling out of the sky. Human children are going missing. Verity is run off her feet helping the police and the Weyrd community. Maybe everything is all connected, but that doesn't make her job any easier. It's also probably not a good time to start seeing someone new...

I found this trilogy through the last book and I wish I'd been able to start with the first instalment. I really enjoyed this. Urban fantasy is one of my great loves and Vigil delivers. It also delivers a setting that's familiar to me (even if it's not quite the Brisbane I know!). The romance is more realistic than most books of the genre - David is the kind of guy that actually exists. Slatter created something fascinating and wonderful in these books. It's such a shame that there's only three of them. Seems to me it was a sales issue only, because the quality is definitely there.

I should have heard about these books when they first appeared. I'm an Urban Fantasy hound with a penchant for Australian content, so I'm an easy target. If I didn't hear about it, something went wrong at the marketing level. But honestly, that's been a massive problem with Urban Fantasy titles by new authors for several years.

Nobody Puts Elf on a Shelf

30/9/2021

His Christmas Escape (Rainbow Cove Christmas #5)
by Shona Husk

There's no happy Christmas homecoming for Jade. Avoiding her biphobic parents is easy enough, but she immediately finds it hard to avoid whatever is going on between her and Nico, who works in a kitchen. Jade and Nico both want to keep it casual - Nico has his own problems, namely a restrictive living situation - but a week-long fling could turn into something else. If they let it.

This might be my favourite book of the series, actually. It just felt so real to me. Husk captured the dynamics of dysfunction so well and threaded a romance through it all. The longer timeframe, aside from suiting Nico and Jade's relationship, made me feel like I got a lot more out of this story than I did the others. Okay, and this might also be the hottest book of the series! ;)

Summer Ba - er, Summer Cove

30/9/2021

His Christmas Pearl (Rainbow Cove Christmas #4)
by Renée Dahlia

Kiet is shucking oysters when Zoe comes across him and they both get bad first impressions. But after Zoe drives him home, she finds herself caught up in the mystery of the money disappearing from Kiet's business. That's why she's choosing to stay at his place during her holidays - and there's definitely no other reason...

Much like Zoe, I also found myself caught up in the mystery. It helped that Kiet and Zoe were very likeable leads (although I was often distracted by thoughts of "yay, Sam!", having read Sam's book first). The ending seemed a bit OTT and I wondered if Zoe completely lacked any sense of self-preservation (come on, woman!), but all in all this was a pleasant read.

Second Time's the Charm

26/9/2021

Her Christmas Kisses (Rainbow Cove Christmas #2)
by Susanne Bellamy

Flick is adrift after her parents divorce, ruining her plans to buy the family restaurant. She stops in Rainbow Cove to get groceries, but then her car becomes a write-off. The owner of the other car? Xander, who's in charge of the town's resort. Flick accepts his help and starts working in the resort restaurant. She's a whizz at desserts, but something else is simmering between her and Xander.

Every now and then you find a shorter book like this where the author completely nails the pacing. This is such a strong romance I think it might have been served better as book one in the series. I was on Team Flick right from the start and I couldn't wait for her and Xander to get together, then stay together. Jenny was also a wonderful side character.

Ooh la la? No la la!

26/9/2021

His Christmas Feast (Rainbow Cove Christmas #1)
by Nora James

Christophe can cook a magnificent feast and wow most residents in Rainbow Cove, but Emily - his next door neighbour - remains immune to his charms. Emily hates Christmas and certainly doesn't appreciate a Frenchman trying to get her to see the good side of the holiday. But the two of them have a fence to fix - and they may be mending other fences too.

Oh wow, I really detested Emily. She was abrasive for most of the book and the abrupt change at the end felt weird to me. Christophe was also too pushy for my liking, but I suppose some readers will like that. Still, I thought the fence metaphor was pretty good. Even if I couldn't stand the thought of these two characters ending up together lol

Cute Christmas-less-ness

19/9/2021

His Christmas Pride (Rainbow Cove Christmas #6)
by Renée Dahlia

Sam is an oyster farmer who dodges a Christmas lunch to play his favourite online game with "Velebit", another user he has a connection with. He's in a small town so he doesn't expect Velebit to be the local newcomer. Mick is a paramedic with a troubled past and he isn't sure he should let anything with Sam develop. But they have one heck of a connection already...

This was a very cute and enjoyable read. Sam was so adorably awkward. He and Mick were both fleshed out very well in such a short space of time. I needed something light after my last read and this certainly delivered. I did feel extremely put out, however, by the complete and utter lack of Christmas in its pages - well, Christmas was mentioned a couple of times but had no bearing on the plot.